Royal Torch Navy
The Royal Torch Navy was the space defense force of the Kingdom of Torch. Ships of the Torch Navy used the prefix TNS. History The RTN was created at the time that the Kingdom of Torch was created in late 1919 PD. Thandi Palane was appointed Torch Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief by Queen Berry at that time. ( ) From the beginning the RTN had a solid core of officers, most of them having had a professional naval background before immigrating to the new star nation. The majority of these were distinctly Beowulfan, but a small number of them were born, raised, and trained on Manticore, although all of them were descendants of freed genetic slaves. The RTN's first ships were acquired from the Anti-Slavery League, which had had them built in Manticoran yards; they were equipped to a much higher standard of performance than would be expected of a private organization. Those eight ''Nat Turner''-class frigates were commissioned into the RTN shortly after Torch was organized. Having been trained as a Marine, Palane relied on Anton Zilwicki and the people he had found to run the ships and on the Ballroom members who had been trained as crewmen on them. ( ) Personnel As of 1919 PD, the Torch military assumed control of the seven Anti-Slavery League frigates, manned by Audubon Ballroom members. As of 1921 PD, General Palane was advised by a team of Manticoran and Havenite naval advisors due to her lack of naval experience, leading Captain Anton Petersen of the Royal Manticoran Navy to be one of her chief subordinates and de facto person in charge with the RTN by May 1922 PD. As of 1922 PD, the RTN possessed a solid core of Beowulfan and Manticoran volunteers in officers posts on the RTN's frigates that served as a training cadre for the rest of the RTN's personnel as most were former slaves with no naval experience. It was this shortage of qualified, properly trained manpower that prevented the RTN from staffing its manpower-intensive former Havenite vessels captured in the Second Battle of Congo. ( ) With seven conventional frigates and eight ''Shrike''-class derivates the number of the RTN naval personnel could be estimated as slightly over thousand peopleA hundred people for conventional vessel and 20 people for Nat Turner-class unit (44 with Marine complement).. On the other hand unused ex-PNE vessels needed over ten tousand personnel. (SB2, ) Organization Platforms The RTN initially consisted of seven ''John Brown''-classThe frigates were built originally for the Anti-Slavery League before being taken in service by Torch. and eight ''Nat Turner''-class frigates purchased officially at cost from the Hauptman Cartel in the Manticore System. As of February 1921 PD the Torch Navy had ordered three destroyers to built by the Hauptman Cartel as well. The RTN's inventory of available platforms was considerably enlarged after the Second Battle of Congo in October 1921 PD, however. The government of the neighboring Maya Sector of the Solarian League transferred than to the RTN the captured warships of the People's Navy in Exile. The transfer included: * 5 ''Mars-D''-class heavy cruisers, * 6 light cruisers, including at least 3 Bridgeport class vessels and at least one Havenite platform''Frigate''-class probably, according to SSNF equipment specimens taken from the Cerberus System. (HH8), * 16 ''War Harvest''-class destroyers. As of May 1922 PD, the former Havenite vessels were not in operation due to a shortage of qualified manpower. According to the naval standards of Grayson and Maya, the transferred platforms were out of date, but were earmarked for substantial upgrades courtesy of the Republic of HavenIn the beginning of the third decade 20th Century PD, 4 [[Mars class|''Mars class]] units continued to serve in Grayson's Protector's Own after inertial compensators refits, extensive computer modeling and power plants operating software upgrades. According to Grayson's opinion, the ''Mars ''class units were too heavily built to be economical to refit and were difficult to maintain.. ( , , ) Known Ships * [[TNS Denmark Vesey|TNS ''Denmark Vesey]] * [[TNS Gabriel Prosser|TNS Gabriel Prosser]] * [[TNS Harper's Ferry|TNS Harper's Ferry]] * [[TNS Nat Turner|TNS Nat Turner]] * [[TNS Pottawatomie Creek|TNS Pottawatomie Creek]] * [[TNS Spartacus|TNS Spartacus]] - designated RTN flagship * Hali Sowle - refitted as a covert fast attack transport and frigate carrier (1922 PD) References Category:Military of Torch